


Trick or Treat? - You've Got the Key

by ChangeGirlYuki



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Boys Kissing, Character Death, Falling In Love, Fantasy, Fluff, Ghost Eren Yeager, Halloween, Happy Ending, M/M, Magic, Past Abuse, Reincarnation, human levi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-11 08:23:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16472105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChangeGirlYuki/pseuds/ChangeGirlYuki
Summary: Because his colleague has called in sick, Levi has to play delivery guy. Of course the car decides to die on his way back in the middle of the forest and when he decides that waiting for someone to randomly show up is pointless and starts walking, he slips on the wet October leaves on the uneven ground, hurting himself really badly.When Levi comes back to his senses some time later, he finds himself at an odd place with a boy who's barely an adult. At first he calls it impossible but when things turn more weird the longer he's forced to stay there with the pretty stranger, Levi starts investigating. What will he find out and can he live with what he might discover?I suck at summaries but I think this one turned out better then usual? Please read the tags before you start reading the actual story!





	Trick or Treat? - You've Got the Key

**Author's Note:**

> This was... kind of inspired by the feed of my choir leader? I have no idea how it happened but when I watched her play the organ at our church, I couldn't help but think of writing that for my next (second!) Riren story. And since Halloween was coming around... Heh, don't mind me rambling. Enjoy, and Happy Halloween!

Trick or Treat - You've got the Key

*Disclaimer: I do not own Attack on Titan, it's characters or original story. I do own the plot behind this fanfiction though. No money is made with this, kudos and comments are what I live off. Enjoy!*

****************

Levi had known from the very moment his alarm clock rang that morning that this was going to be a shit day. So far, he had been right.

It started with his favorite tea being not available when he went to his regular coffee shop on his way to work. Then said work happened to suck even more then usual because his mood had been ruined by not getting his daily doses of tea and when lunch break rolled around, his boss ordered him to drive over to Shiganshina to run an errand because the colleague who normally did that had called in sick. That, of course, meant no lunch for Levi. Instead he got to spend three hours in his car, then dealing with annoying and idiotic workers at his destination. And when he had been on his way back home, his fucking piece of trash of a car had broken down halfway through the ride. With no service available to call his boss or help or whatever, Levi had started walking through the forest he had been driving through. It was already getting dark and the battery of his phone would only last so long before that little light died as well. And while he stumbled upon the uneven road and tried to avoid falling or running into anything, he cursed this day and his co-worker Hanji who had been supposed to be here now. (Hanji was the one who had called in sick but Levi was 95% sure that the shitty glasses was just too busy planning today's Halloween party instead of coming to work.)

"Who even needs this fucking day?", Levi growled and then yelped as he slipped on something and fell. 

The raven fell for quite some time, getting hit by half a dozen of trees on the way down. When the world finally stopped spinning, Levi tried to catch his breath.  
Everything hurt. His sight was fuzzy and when he tried moving, his rips hurt even more and the noises coming from them were frightening.   
"F-fuck...", the man cursed and spit out something that might have had blood in it but it was too dark to see it clearly. Tasting it was bad enough though.   
'This is it', Levi thought. 'I'm gonna die here and rot and nobody will find me in ages. And even if they do, I'll be long since dead. Happy Halloween...'

******************

A foreign melody pulled Levi's mind out of it's pained stage. It was a pretty song, hummed by a talented voice. Blinking his eyes open, Levi got to see the full moon enlighten the trees above him. If he blinked enough, he could also make out a building somewhat in the distance. A rather small tower was attached to it.   
'A church', he thought and chuckled dryly at that. 'The priests will get something to do when they find out about me dying on their holy ground.'  
Suddenly the humming stopped and a shocked gasp would be heard, echoing through the otherwise silent forest. A spark of hope grew inside of the raven. Had they seen him? Maybe he wouldn't die here today then?  
But of course that would have been too much to ask for. Levi's vision became blurry again, black frames eating up what little he could see. Pain flowed through his system and made him groan in pain. He was so focused on himself that he barely noticed the hectic footsteps coming closer.   
“Oh dear Lord!”, the pleasant voice exclaimed and suddenly a figure leaned over Levi. It's frame was hidden by a large cloak but somehow Levi could make out a surprisingly young face beneath the hood, a face staring down at him in shock and worry.   
“What happened to you?”, the stranger asked and out of instinct did Levi open his mouth to answer, only to cough out as another wave of pain washed over him. The black frames grew faster, swallowing up his vision faster and faster. The last thing Levi saw was the moonlight illuminating a pair of wide blueish green eyes.   
And then the world went black.

*************************

Warmth.  
Warmth and light.   
Those were the first things Levi noticed when his senses started to come back. He had no idea how much time had passed since he'd lost consciousness in the forest but it must have been a while since his body didn't hurt as much anymore.   
Blinking his eyes open, Levi found himself in a foreign room. Walls and floor were covered with dark wood and a fire place was lit next to him. Looking down at himself, Levi saw that he was lying under the sheets of a comfortable bed. Someone, most likely the one who had found him, had tended to his injuries and changed his clothes. Looking around further, the room told Levi that whoever lived here must be a lone wolf or at least not getting company too often since everything was furnished and prepared for housing one single person – one bed, one small wardrobe next to a wooden door, a table next to a small kitchen corner with dishes for one as far as Levi could make out from where he was lying.   
Nobody else was around though. Maybe his savior was taking care of something else? Contacting help from the next city or getting fire wood, maybe? 

Moving slowly, Levi sat up some. His memories where blurry but as far as he remembered, his savior had looked like a young man, barely an adult. Why was such a boy doing all alone in a forest?   
Much to Levi's surprise did his body hurt less then he'd been expecting. Had he been not as injured as he had thought? Or could it be that he'd been out of it longer then he knew? Swallowing, Levi hoped for the first option. He might not be as social but he didn't want any of his colleagues and those he considered friends worry about him.   
When the older man had managed to sit up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, he got to take in his new outfit – a simple white shirt and dark brown pants, no socks. The clothing was very large on him which caused him to make a face. Of course even a lonesome brat in the middle of the forest was taller then him. 

After a while of sitting there without anyone coming in, Levi decided that he would try looking for the other. Or maybe there were other people living here? He had no idea how big the building was after all. Making his way over to the door, Levi had to bite his teeth together. His body was sore from lying in a foreign bed for God knew how long and from being hurt. Hopefully he wouldn't have to look for another human being for too long.  
When the raven opened the door, he was greeted with the sight of the church he'd seen earlier in front of a sunrise. Or rather a sunset, he wasn't too sure. The grass and the small path leading to the church were covered with the colorful dress of trees in autumn – golden, red and brown leaves resting on green grass and flying through the air as wind caught them from time to time.

The beauty of that scenery was disturbed by a particular cold wind that caused Levi to shiver. He flinched and ripped his eyes off the colors around him. And that was when he heard it. It was faint, most likely dampened by the stone walls of the building, but the art of itself wasn't any smaller because of that. In fact, it only made Levi want to experience the real thing. So he made his way into the direction of the church.

Despite it's small looks from the outside did the church look quite spacious from the inside. The windows alongside the seats were reaching up until they met the roof and the cross hovering above the altar was very impressive too. There were pillows lying on the seats and the lyric books stood in a lovely shelf next to the main door. Candles were lightening the whole building and bathing everything in their warm glow. Right next to the main entrance was a stairs that probably lead up to the gallery for the choir and musicians. All in all, the church in the middle of the forest looked very homey, like a place were you couldn't not feel the presence of your Lord and his love. 

The sound that had lead Levi inside had stopped when he had entered and looked around. Now it came back and Levi recognized the beautiful song of a traditional organ playing. He remembered when his mom had taken him to church when he was little. The things the priest used to tell them from the front didn't really mean anything to the young boy but when the choir started singing alongside with the organ-play, his eyes would light up and he'd squirm on his seat and look up to were the music came from. 

The music that now filled his ears was lovely and practiced. Whoever was playing up there must have been playing that instrument for a long time. Levi didn't know which song they were playing but it made his heart ache with the longing for love and a home, it was dripping with emotions. Levi wasn't a very social person but listening to that music made him want to walk up there and hug the live out of whoever sat in front of that keyboard.  
So that's what he did.

*************************

The way up the gallery was an act to accomplish with how sore his body was but if there was anything that Levi was good at then it was overstepping things that tried to keep him from doing whatever was on his mind. The stairs leading up was small and the steps where not the standard high of stair steps which made the way up even harder. The sight that greeted the raven when he finally reached the next 'floor' was worth everything though.   
The organ itself was one of those old ones with lots of wood crafting on it – angels playing the flute and whatnot, roses and bonds connecting them – and the wood itself was so dark it almost looked pitch black. In front of it, his body moving along with his playing, sat the person who must have rescued him – a young man, barely out of his teenage years, with a mess of brown hair on his head, tanned yet somehow pale skin and a dark green cloak wrapped around his shoulders. His long legs were clad in the same brown pants Levi was currently wearing, the boys feet were bare.   
For a while, all the older man did was watching as the talented brunette pressed keys and shifted his feet to reach the pedals on the floor. His eyes were either closed or looking onto the keyboard – no notes were in sight, which meant that the song he was playing came right out of his mind.  
'Right out of his heart', Levi corrected himself.

He had no idea how long the music continued on but after what felt like eternity did the brunette finish his song with a few high notes and kept his fingers on the keyboard for a while, not moving in any kind of way. Biting his lip, Levi had to hold himself back from making any kind of noise, or worse, asking the boy to play some more. Even thinking about disturbing the silence felt like a sin. So Levi kept standing where he was, holding onto the armrest of the stairway and eyes locked on the beautiful sight in front of him. 

Maybe he unconsciously had made a noise or he had breathed too loudly, Levi didn't know. Something caused the brunette's head to snap up though, hair flying around as his whole upper body whipped around and faced Levi. And finally was he able to see into that brilliant pair of eyes again, this time enlightened by the warm glow of a pair of candles nearby. Blue and green were fighting a battle around the blown pupils, a few sparks of gold glinting in the light as well.   
Swallowing, Levi tried to come up with something to say that didn't reveal how speechless the other's beauty had made him. He found nothing that didn't sound gay as fuck. 

They stared at each other for a few moments, that pretty pair of eyes running up and down Levi's body, the look inside them making him feel like he was being stripped of his clothes.   
'Which wouldn't be the first time', Levi remembered and he frowned a little. The movement of his eyebrows got the other out of his frozen state and he slipped off that small bank, walking over to Levi and the raven got proof that the other was indeed a freaking giant.  
A cold hand came up and cupped Levi's cheek. Before he could do as much as blush and open his mouth to ask what the hell the other was doing, the hand was ripped off his skin again.

“You're alive”, the brat said, sounding almost surprised.   
Levi huffed offended. “I sure hope so, brat.”  
Now it was the brunette's turn to huff and turn around again, shutting the keyboard of the organ.   
“You have been out for three days. There was no way telling if you'd made it. I was afraid that you were bleeding on the inside”, the young man said and pushed past Levi, walking down the stairs again.   
“And why didn't you take me to a hospital or something?!” Levi stared and followed the other hastily, ignoring the pain that shot through his body at the harsh movements. The brunette turned around and gave him a look as if Levi couldn't possibly have asked something any more stupid.   
“This place doesn't really exist. There is no way to get here”, he answered cryptically and continued his walk. For a moment, Levi blinked speechless. The boy couldn't be serious, right?

When the older man finally caught up with his savior, they were in the middle of the meadow between the church and the small house Levi had come to consciousness again. The sun was almost completely gone by now but it was still bright enough to notice something, Levi must have overlooked on his first time being outside – almost swallowed by the forest stood a rotten hut. Ivy wrapped itself around it's small form, covering the surprisingly unbroken windows and reaching up to it's roof. It wasn't bigger then one of those old-fashioned telephone boxes. The door of the hut was the only thing that looked as if it was new – the wood was brighter and even from his position far away, Levi was able to see the sun rays catching in the shiny metal of the polished lock.   
The other must have noticed that Levi wasn't following. Suddenly an angry face was all up in Levi's personal space, those blue-greenish eyes glaring at him with passion.  
“You will never go there, much less inside! Are we understood?”, the brunette demanded.   
“Tch”, Levi answered and pushed past the brat, continuing his walk back to the house he'd woken up in as if he wasn't the slightest bit curious or disturbed by the sudden outburst.  
“As if I'd voluntarily enter such a filthy place.”

*****************************

After that, they had entered the small house and, being a little lost, Levi had sat onto the only chair standing next to the table. The brunette walked over to the kitchen corner, pulling two cups and a kettle out, apparently making tea. While he waited for the water to boil, he pulled out a piece of bread and cheese, cutting some of it and putting it on a plate. Said plate was put in front of Levi with an expecting look that said 'Eat.' The expression on that pretty face told Levi that the other wouldn't accept anything else then obedience. Looking down at the food, the raven's stomach made it clear that it also wouldn't accept a no. He really must have been gone for more then a few hours.

A few minutes later, a steaming cup of what looked like herbal tea joined the by now almost empty plate of food and the brunette sat down on the bed, watching Levi.  
“I'm Eren”, he said after a while. “Eren Yeager. I'm apologizing for my lack of manners but I don't get much company out here.”  
The smile that followed cut off any rude comment that had started forming itself on Levi's tongue. Instead, he cleared his throat and nodded. “I'm Levi Ackerman. Thank you for saving my ass out there.”  
The brat, Eren, laughed and waved it off. “No need to thank me. Besides, you're not fully recovered yet. There's no way you'd make it to the next town like this so I'm afraid you'll have to stay here for a little longer.”

The last sentence hung in the air for quite some time while Levi thought about it. His colleagues and friends were probably worrying about him already. His place was most likely starting to grow dusty as well. But if this place really was that far off any other town that you might call it 'not existent'... and Levi hadn't seen anything like a car or something else that would carry him away from here than his own feet.   
“You don't have a phone out here, do you?”, Levi asked and Eren was already shaking his head before Levi had finished asking. The older man groaned in frustration. “How can you live like this?”  
The brunette grinned. “Practice. I'm used to it. Besides, you can't miss stuff you never had, right?”  
For the thousandth time this day did Levi stare speechlessly. “You've never been anywhere else? Didn't you go to school either?”  
Eren shook his head. “This is my home, my birth place. My father taught me what I needed to know before he passed away. My mom died when I was ten. I've been living on my own for the past couple years and I guess I'd be lost anywhere else.” The smile on the boy's face was a mix between funny attitude and loneliness and made Levi's heart ache in a weird way. He couldn't imagine living this isolated from everything and everyone.   
“Is there no place you'd like to go, nothing else you'd want to see?”, Levi asked softly, pushing his plate aside.   
Eren thought about the question and a longing look settled in his eyes. “I've always wanted to see the ocean”, he answered, voice so low the older man barely heard him.  
“Why don't you come with me? I could show you.”

The words where out before Levi could stop them and he mentally face palmed himself. Eren was staring at him as if he'd grown a second head.  
“Never mind. Forget it, brat”, the raven said and downed his tea in one go. Clearing his throat, Eren got up and walked over to the door.   
“You should rest some more. Good night, Levi”, the brunette said and left before Levi could say any more stupid stuff. 'Even people living in the middle of nowhere all on their own have more sense of sanity then you, Levi', the older man thought and sighed, resting his forehead on his hand, closing his eyes. Only seconds later did it snap up again.   
“He doesn't plan on sleeping inside of the church, is he?”, Levi asked himself and made his way over to the door. When he opened it, all he could see was darkness, the light from behind him reaching only two or three feet into the darkness of the night. Everything surrounding the small house was swallowed by the night.   
“Eren?”, Levi called out, not really expecting an answer and not getting any either. He stood in the doorway for a few more minutes, debating if he should go outside and look for the brat – if he really wanted to sleep in the church, he'd probably catch a cold, only because Levi had been a weird creep again. He doubted that the other would stay at the hut but that would also have been an option...   
But if he would go out there, he'd only risk falling and hurting himself again on the unknown territory. And it wasn't as if he'd asked Eren something that weird either, right? He'd only been offering help himself, maybe as a gesture of gratitude.   
Shaking his head after another couple minutes, Levi went back inside and cleaned the dishes. While he was at it, he decided to clean the little kitchen as well. His body was too sore for much more work but cleaning calmed him down and made him feel kind of useful right now. One hour later did Levi go back to bed.

**********************

The next morning, Levi was woken by Eren making breakfast. Sitting up, the older winced at the sore feeling in his body.  
“Ah, good morning, Levi. How are you feeling today?”, the brunette asked cheerfully, setting a can of tea onto the already set breakfast table. He must have had eaten already because there was only one dish for Levi.   
“Sore”, Levi answered and got up slowly, glaring at the younger one when he attempted to come over and support him. “I'm not that old yet, brat.”  
Eren huffed at that and sat down on the kitchen counter. “You cold have fooled me”, he said with a mocking tone, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lip.   
Glaring harder, Levi came over and took a sip of his still hot tea, ignoring the brunette while he fully woke up. With the process came the memories of the past evening.  
“I hope sleeping in the church wasn't too cold”, the raven said and looked at the other who was swinging his legs back and forth. “I can't have my savior catching the flue because of me.”  
Eren blinked confused. “What are you talking about?”  
Levi raised an eyebrow. “You left as if the devil had been offering sanctuary to you yesterday. I hope you didn't decide to sleep out in that rotten hut because of me?”  
At the mentioning of the hut, Eren flinched for a tiny bit. The confusion slipped off his face though. “Ah, no, I'm fine, don't worry. I don't really sleep in here anyway. This used to be my father's house. I prefer to sleep under a higher roof. It's not that much colder there either.”  
Levi wasn't fully convinced by that but he nodded slowly. “If you say so...”  
Eren nodded and smiled before jumping off the counter. “I'm going to get some fire wood. Feel free to eat as much as you want, I've got enough of everything, really.” With that, he left and moments later the sound of wood being sliced into pieces could be heard.

After he had eaten breakfast, Levi decided to clean the rest of the small house. He needed to keep moving after all and he also wanted to do something productive. Eren eventually joined him, stating that Levi was his guest and didn't have to do anything. The brunette was shut off fast when he noticed that he for one couldn't fulfill Levi's standards of cleanliness and two that there was no way he could stop the older one.   
They worked for the rest of the day, only stopping when Eren demanded that Levi needed to take a break and eat something, not pushing himself too far. 

****************************

It became a routine somehow. Eren would wake Levi with breakfast and then leave for getting firewood. Levi would eat and start cleaning – after the house was done, he had moved on to cleaning the church as well. Eren would join him after some time and they would tend to the task together. While doing that, Eren would listen to Levi's stories. He wanted to hear everything. Where Levi lived and what he did for a living, what places he had been to and where he wanted to go. They both avoided talking about Levi's offer from the other day.   
In the afternoon they would take walks through the forest and talk some more, Eren taking him to all his favorite places. Or they would stay inside and read through the few books Eren possessed. The young man had gotten Levi to read them out loud for him and sometimes they took them to the church because Eren liked the acoustic there better.  
The more time the two of them spend together, the more did Levi find himself fond of the brat. At first it had all been just physical attraction but by now he found himself liking the sound of the other's laughter and the silly jokes the other would come up with. It wasn't hard feelings yet, nothing more then a slight crush or something like that but Levi could feel that it held potential and he really hoped that when he was going to leave, Eren would decide to come with him. 

Time went on rather quickly and Levi couldn't help but notice things. Eren would never eat with him and the older man was wondering if the other was eating at all. He also never saw the brat sleeping. One day, Levi had tried to follow the brat after he had left but when he stepped outside into the darkness, he had as well could have been blind. The forest around them seemed to swallow every little light, not even the stars or the moon reached down onto the small clearing. Levi barely managed to find his way back into the house and he could have sworn that the darkness was more then the lack of light. He never tried to follow Eren again.  
The brat was also very protective of the hut. Levi had noticed that the brunette wore a key around his neck and as far as he could tell there was no lock in the house or the church where it might have fit into. It had to be the key to the new lock on the hut's door. When Levi mentioned it and asked where the younger had managed to get a new lock and door in the middle of the forest - had he crafted them himself? - the other had almost thrown a fit about it being none of his business and Levi hadn't seen Eren for the rest of the day. What was it with this damn piece of rotting wood and ivy?

It was a week after Levi had woken up that the older noticed something else. Eren had left him alone with his dinner again and while staring down at his food, Levi wondered how the other had managed to bake bread or make cheese. He also hadn't seen any bundles of drying herbs for the tea he was drinking. There was no storage room in this house or at the church either so the only place left...  
“That's it. He can't keep his food at a filthy place like this!”, Levi snapped and got up, rushing over to the door. When he opened it, he was greeted with the usual thick darkness. This time the raven ignored the shivers running down his spine and he stepped outside, making his way over to the hut. Over the past few days, Levi had not only gotten healed but he had gotten to know the surroundings of this place in and out. And nothing would keep him from making sure that the brat wouldn't end up with food poisoning sooner or later. Besides, he really wanted to know what was behind that door. What needed to be locked away in the middle of nowhere so badly?

The closer Levi got to the small ivy covered hut, the more seemed the air itself to fight him. Strong winds tugged on his hair and clothing, cold fingers clawing into his skin as if something invisible was trying to pull him away from it again.   
“Let go of me!”, Levi yelled and reached out with his hand, fingers meeting wood. The second he touched the small building, the wind died down and the silence that followed was thicker then steel.   
'What the fuck was that?', Levi wondered, dusting off his clothes and straightening them. Everything inside of him screamed go back to the house. The older man had never been listening to voices calling him to leave something undiscovered, his stubbornness forbade it. Besides, what was wrong if he took a look? 

Since Eren had the key hanging around his neck as always, the door was locked. Levi's hands caught more then one splinter while he looked everywhere close by for a second one. The longer he was out here, the more did his restlessness and frustration grow so after a short while, he decided that the only solution was to kick in the door. Eren would probably kill him but he would deal with that later. Taking a step back, Levi tried to clear his somehow foggy mind with a deep breath. The wind started to pick up again and this time Levi thought he heard voices in the harsher growing blows, calling out for him and telling him to stop. Shaking his head again, the older man ignored them, and with one precise kick, the lock broke and the door was open.

**************************

He had expected to find food. Maybe find out that Eren had been lying to him and indeed slept here instead of the church. He had expected to find maybe something from Eren's long passed parents, things the younger one held dear. Maybe some kind of machines that were important for surviving out here on your own, everything else would have made more sense then what Levi saw once he entered the freshly opened hut.

The hut was bigger then it had seemed on the first look. When Levi stepped inside, light snapped on, filling the room with clinical light. The scene it enlightened though was horrible. The dust that hat settled on it didn't do anything to make it look less disgusting.   
There was only one room. The back wall was covered with one large bookshelf. The right wall had a sink and something that might have been a very old-fashioned fridge. Every surface was covered with papers and weird looking instruments. He only registered that chaos in the back of his mind though, Levi's focus lying on the table in the middle of the room. It was one of those metal tables you'd find in a morgue or something like that. Around it stood lots of holders for drips, a few of them still filled with colorful yet dry fluids. Cables and energy lines came to and went away from the table as well, connecting with monitors and other machines you'd find at a hospital. Levi wasn't a fan of hospitals but he also had no problem with going there either. What made him want to puke out the contents of his stomach was the... thing that was tied to the metal table.   
It was a corpse, most likely long dead with how grey and collapsed the skin was. It looked human, though there were lots of mutations covering it. It was bigger then anyone the raven had ever come across and he could tell that they must have been really muscular before their death. It had long pointy ears and the gums lying bare to give Levi insight onto rows of strong teeth, much more then any human was supposed to have. The bones of his face were more prominent even with the fading flesh on them. Fingers and toes were curled together into claws, that mutation being more prominent on their hands. It lacked genitals but Levi could tell that someone had cut them off artificially.   
Their guts were cut open for an autopsy as well, giving inside onto crumbled and dry organs and even some instruments that still stuck inside of them. 

“My father was a doctor”, Eren suddenly said from behind Levi. Flinching hardly, Levi hastily turned around and stared at the younger one, eyes wide with horror. The brunette stood in the kicked open door, staring at the laboratory scene in front of them with a blank expression.   
“When my mother got pregnant, he moved to live here with her and the baby, wanting to make sure that we wouldn't be any more corrupted by society.”   
Eren coughed out a laugh and shook his head, expression growing full of hate and long suppressed rage. Levi opened his mouth to say something, or maybe ask a question but no words came out of his lips and Eren kept talking. He didn't really seem to see Levi though.  
“He wanted to make sure we had everything we'd need and he wanted us to be prepared if someone would show up to take us away from his safe haven. So he started to work on something he called 'Humanity's Hope'. He wanted to create something that could protect us and fight back the corruptness in the world. He wanted a weapon to fight in the war against everything he deemed wrong and bad. When I was two, he made me help him in his laboratory. Mom was happy that we spend 'bonding time' together. When she found out what was really going on...”  
Eren raised his hand and pointed over to a coffin at the other wall, a coffin Levi must have overlooked.

“It hurt so much, Levi.”   
The raven slowly raised his head and this time Eren was looking straight into his eyes, tears forming in his blueish-green ones.”I couldn't stand it anymore, it hurt so much. All the things he made me drink, all the stuff that burned inside of my vanes to make me stronger... I... I tried to run. He got so mad at me for trying to escape...” Those sad eyes full of horror settled on the corpse again and Levi's eyes grew even wider.  
“This can't be... you?!” He wanted to shout but all that came out was a broken whisper. The look on Eren's face was enough of an answer.   
'This is impossible!', Levi's rationality screamed but he didn't listen. He couldn't. Looking back and forth between the corpse and Eren, the latter slowly came closer to Levi.   
“I told you not to go over here”, Eren said sadly and cupped Levi's cheek. The raven stared up at the younger one, slowly noticing that the other was starting to glow and growing see-through at the same time. “Thank you for spending time with me, Levi. I really like you.”  
A tear rolled out of those beautiful eyes and then Eren leaned in, covering Levi's slightly open lips with his own. It was more a peek then a real kiss and when Levi opened his eyes again, Eren was gone. 

*************************

Levi must have blacked out because the next time he opened his eyes, he found himself on the meadow in front of the church. The sunrise was almost over, a few clouds covering the grey blue sky. It was cold and he had no idea for how long he had been lying around here. When his memories from the past night came back with full force, Levi jumped up, running over to the house, ignoring how his freshly healed rips protested at the sportive activity. He slowed down though when he came closer to the house. It looked different then the other day, ivy had grown around the windows and it looked as if it been years since anyone had been inside of it. Levi's hands shook when he opened the door.  
“Eren?”, he asked, slowly entering. No answer. When Levi got to see the inside, he stopped in his movement. Everything was covered with dust, rotting and broken. The bed sheets were covered with moth holes and on the ground laid broken dishes. It looked as if it had been abandoned for years.   
Panic rose inside of Levi and he ran over to the church, screaming Eren's name and begging for this to be a nightmare. But the church turned out to be in the same abandoned state as the house and when Levi went up to the gallery to check on the organ, the beautiful instrument where he had spend a few evenings with the young man together was nothing more then a broken pile of wood and pipes and material. Tears streamed down the raven's cheeks and he broke down in front of it, crying and sobbing like he hadn't for a very long time. 

He had no idea for how long he sat there but eventually a ray of sunlight caught on something sticking out from beneath the broken organ and when Levi picked it up, he came to see the key to the hut, the same key Eren had been wearing around his neck all the time. Biting his lip, Levi wiped off his tears and left the church, the key hold closely against his chest. He didn't need to walk over to the hut to confirm his memories of the laboratory and Eren's corpse. He couldn't explain what had happened over the past few weeks and how it was possible that he hadn't seen it. Not logically anyway. Maybe this was what Hanji called magic. Whatever it was, it had taken away someone he'd grown fond of, someone he had started to like and would have asked out at some point. Now he didn't know if he ever really met a guy like Eren or if it all had been a dream.

***********************

One week later, Levi was back at work, Erwin and Hanji all over him. He didn't tell them about Eren, he claimed having spend some time at an old house in the middle of nowhere – which was true, kinda – to recover from having slipped in the forest and injuring himself.   
They knew that he didn't tell them everything but he would rather die then telling them what had happened to him. By now Levi had settled for his time with Eren to be true. Who knew what was all out there anyway? There was no way he would have healed like that in a rotten house, much less in the middle of the forest. He would rather have died of the cold out there or been eaten by an animal.

He still missed the brunette. Every morning he woke up and had to find himself all alone again, with noone to prepare breakfast for him. Nobody would help him clean his place or listen to his stories like Eren had done. Nobody would make him feel like Eren had done.   
'That much for it just being a tiny crush, old man', Levi thought for the millionth time, his hand unconsciously holding onto the key he had started wearing around his neck. Sighing, Levi was about to go back to the paper he had been working on when someone knocked at his door.   
“Who is it?”, he called out, annoyed for being interrupted. His eyes grew wide when he saw the person that slowly entered his office.   
“Uhm... are you Mr. Levi Ackerman? Mr. Smith send me over, I'm here for a six month internship”, a tall brunette with bright blue-greenish eyes said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. Levi stared at the young man in front of him. How was this possible?   
“Who are you?”, he demanded harshly, not believing what he was seeing.   
“Right, sorry”, the other answered and straightened his posture a bit, holding out his hand for shaking.   
“The name is Eren. Eren Jea-... Alert. Sorry, my mom got married again and I still have to adjust to the new last name.” A bright smile followed though it slowly faded when Levi didn't take the offered hand and just stared at him. Clearing his throat, that guy, Eren, lowered his arm again and looked around the office and Levi. When his eyes found the key that hung around Levi's neck though, his eyes went wide and he stumbled backwards, holding his head and groaning in pain.  
Within seconds did Levi get up and rush over to the side, leading the younger one to sit in one of the chairs in front of his desks.   
“What's wrong?”, Levi asked and reached out to cup Eren's cheek out of the blue. The brat was panting heavily and when he looked up at the raven again, tears where running down his cheeks.   
“L-levi”, he whispered and suddenly Levi had a lap full of Eren, a sobbing man holding onto him and whimpering things about how much it hurt and why his father was doing this to him and for someone to help him, save him. All Levi could do was holding him, emotions battling inside of him. 

It took forever but eventually did Eren calm down. When he pulled away from Levi, the other showed a tissue up his face.   
“You got snot all over my suit”, Levi said, trying to keep his reserved position and not to get his hopes up. Maybe this was just a really huge coincidence and the younger one had just been triggered by something else?  
Snorting, Eren took the tissue and dried his face. After he threw the used thing into the trash, he looked back at Levi.  
“I'm sorry, I... I think I...”, Eren seemed to be at a loss of words and he frowned with a slightly painful expression, as if he was trying to mentally grasp something he wasn't sure of being there.   
“I know you”, he said after a while and it wasn't a question. Hands grabbed Levi's shoulders and before he could do anything, Eren was kissing him with force, almost pushing the both of them onto the office floor in his enthusiasm.   
“I found you, I missed you so much even before I remembered...”   
And that was when Levi gave in and wrapped his arms around Eren again, holding his brat and staring into those beautiful eyes in slowly fading disbelieve. He wasn't going to question things though. All he was going to do was keeping his Eren and never let him go again.

*End!*

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, please tell me what you think of this ^^  
> (And major mistakes too, please :) )


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